Stephen A. Smith becomes ESPN’s highest-paid sportscaster

Stephen A. Smith’s new five-year contract will make him ESPN’s highest-paid sportscaster, with an annual salary of nearly $8 million per year, according to the New York Post.

It moves the sportscaster past Mike Greenberg’s annual salary of $6.5 million, ESPN’s previous known highest salary. The 52-year-old appeared to celebrate his deal with a tweet on Friday.

Negotiations between Smith and ESPN reportedly began in April.

From the Post:

“Smith will continue to be front and center on ESPN’s air with his daily morning show ‘First Take,’ as well as on ‘SportsCenter’ and the network’s NBA coverage. Though the finer points of the contract are not fully completed, Smith has already started hosting Wednesday’s ‘SportsCenter’ leading into ESPN’s NBA schedule that night. … Smith will give up his national ESPN Radio show next year. ESPN wants to try to find a fit for Smith on its direct-to-consumer subscription service, ESPN+, and for him to continue to be active through his and their social media channels.”

Smith joined ESPN in 2005, working as a weekday radio host while also writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The New York City native has 4.5 million Twitter followers and has been a mainstay on “First Take” for almost eight years.